I sometimes do this thing where I open the clutch, put half of a wrap on the winch to turn the line and take it with me to the mast. The winch gives me enough friction on the line that I can pay it out at my leisure when gradually lowering the main.

I used to do that on my old boat, but it doesn't work so well with the dodger on the new boat.

I found the stepping on the line trick by accident (literally "why can't we drop the main...oops, I'm stepping on the halyard"), but now use it intentionally.

My only experiences with lazy jacks have made me happy that I don't have them.